Before you make your fire, please read our fire pit safety instructions, payingparticular attention to where you are going to site your firepit. There are many ways to make a fire, but some methods are easier than others. We outline our experience of fire pit fire making here.
You'll need: Suitable dry wood. Dry kindling. Fire lighters or newspaper. Matches. A poker. Gauntlet Gloves (optional).
Firewood, Kindling, Fire Lighters & Matches
Selecting your firewood Firstly, it's important to understand that the firewood you select to burn is of paramountimportance. Obviously, the dryer and more "seasoned" (left in the dry for a year after cutting) your wood is, the better it will burn. Wet or "green" (freshly cut) wood will not burn well (if at all) and will also smoke a lot if it does burn - not ideal! Dead wood from fallen trees can burn well too, but it has to be dry.
Shops sell wood in various states of dryness. "Kiln dried" wood is the best as it has been heated up in an oven to specifically remove moisture so that it burns better. It's a lot cheaper to buy wood by the lorry load from a local firewood supplier than in mesh bags from the shops but if you only intend to make a few fires and have limited space, the small bags of wood from the shops are just fine. A bag or two of wood is usually enough to get you through an evening depending on the size of your firepit. You'll need more logs for bigger firepits.
Some types of wood will burn better (and longer) than others. Seasoned hardwoods like oak will burn longer, whereas softer woods like pine will burn a lot faster due to their resin content and lower airier density. It's best to avoid softwoods or any high resin content wood (pines etc.) as these will "spit" more when burning. Most commercial logs you can buy are seasoned hardwood for this reason.
If you fell a live tree for wood, you need to "season" it for at least a year in the dry before burning. Dead wood can be burnt straight away if it is dry.
Moisture Meter
Moisture Meter You can check that wood is dry enough to burn with a wood moisture meter. (These cost from about £12 online.) Readings below 25 mean the wood will burn well. Readings above 35 means the wood is probably too wet to burn. It's a useful tool to check the wood that you buy in bags is dry enough. (If it's not been stored in the dry it will need time to dry out before you can burn it.)
Don't burn anything else in your firepit except wood. Coal, wood chippings, paper based logs, bits of old wood covered in paint, rubbish, plastics etc. are not suitable and should not be burned.
Kindling Kindling is small pieces of dry wood that burns quickly due to it's higher surface area and helps get a fire started.
You can buy bags of kindling in the shops and one bag will allow you to make many fires as you only need a small amount for each fire. You can also use dry twigs, but as with firewood these must be seasoned and dry.
Kindling
Fire Lighters You can light a fire with a box of matches and a little scrunched up newspaper, but fire lighters are a lot more effective and safer when lighting a firepit fire outdoors. Newspaper burns very quickly and can also "float" off the fire while it is burning so is not ideal if you have shrubs, trees or dry grass nearby.
There are various brands of firelighters available in the shops and it's often a case of you pay for what you get. We prefer firelighters that are individually wrapped as once a box of unsealed firelighters is opened the flammable component starts to vent off and the firelighters soon dry out and become useless. If you do buy the cheaper unsealed ones get a zip lock bag and put them in as soon as you've removed one to start the fire.
Matches Any match can light a fire pit fire, but extra long ones are a little easier to use and safer as they allow you to safely probe into the centre of the fire.
IMPORTANT: Never use petrol or other flammable liquids or gases to start a firepit fire!
Building your Fire for Success.
Lining the base with ash As with log burners, it can often be better to make a new fire on a bed of ash from an old fire. So if you've had a fire recentlyand the ash is dry, leave a small layer of ash at the bottom of your firepit.
Lining the base with sand If you have some, put a layer of dry sand at the bottom of your fire pit fire. This will help reduce the amount of heat radiating from the base of the fire onto the ground which can help preserve grass or large slabs underneath. Please do bear in mind that anything the firepit is placed on will get hot and large slates or stones may crack under the heat of the fire. Don't put our fire pit on a deck!
Build a kindling tower Construct a stack / tower of kindling in the centre of the firepit about 5 or six layers high. Break up a fire lighter into a few pieces and place them inside the tower towards the bottom between the sticks.
Adding logs Select four or five smaller logs and place them carefully around the tower, leaning onto it. (Bark facing inwards if logs have some.) If the tower collapses, rebuild it and start again.
Lighting & burning Use the matches to light the fire lighters. The kindling tower will start to burn. The kindling tower will burn down and set alight to the logs as it does so. Stay with the fire - it's a critical time and the fire may need some help to get going. e.g. more kindling added.
Getting the fire going Don't add too many logs at once and don't place them right on top of the kindling tower as it can smother the fire just as it's getting going. Fires need a good airflow to burn.
You should get a strong burn and a large flame initially as the kindling burns very well. This intense burn gets the whole fire going.
After a short time it will die down and the logs should be alight. If they are not alight it may be that they are too wet to burn or the kindling tower was not large enough. You may have to start the process again if the fire just goes out!
Your fire is lit Use a poker to move logs around and add more logs as needed ideally wearing gauntlet gloves to protect yourself. When adding additional logs, placing them in the middle of the fire (where it is hottest) is usually best as this will reduce the likelihood of smoke.
Never leave a fire unattended, keep children and pets away from the fire and keep your distance. Read our Fire Pit Fire Safety Guide here.
It is imperative to avoid overloading your fire pit. Thus, you should start with a small fire and add more wood gradually. Too much wood all at once can smother the flames. At the same time, you need to remove ashes from previous fires to maintain good airflow, which helps the new fire burn efficiently.
It is imperative to avoid overloading your fire pit. Thus, you should start with a small fire and add more wood gradually. Too much wood all at once can smother the flames. At the same time, you need to remove ashes from previous fires to maintain good airflow, which helps the new fire burn efficiently.
Regularly add more kindling or tinder to help keep your flames burning longer and hotter. Leaning logs against each other in a criss-cross pattern can help keep them upright while creating an efficient airflow through which oxygen can reach deeper into the pile and create a larger flame.
In most cases, it's a good idea to use sand when you're trying to protect your fire pit. Keep in mind that not all fire pits need a layer of sand on the bottom, as they may be designed differently.
Oxygen, heat, and fuel are frequently referred to as the "fire triangle." Add in the fourth element, the chemical reaction, and you actually have a fire "tetrahedron." The important thing to remember is: take any of these four things away, and you will not have a fire or the fire will be extinguished.
One of the easiest match-free ways to start a fire is to use flint and steel. Flint and steel kits can be purchased relatively inexpensively and are easy to start a fire with if you have a tinder kit, especially if your tinder kit includes charcloth.
There are three things that have to be present for any fire to burn – heat, fuel and oxygen. If any one of these things is removed, the fire will go out.
To build a lean-to fire, all you're going to do is lay a log in the fire pit and lean kindling on the side of the log. Make sure you don't put your tinder too far underneath the kindling, or you won't be able to reach it with a match. Build a lattice with your kindling that crisscrosses three or four times.
First, lay your thickest logs in a row in your firepit. Add another row of thick logs to build the heart of the fire, then a row or two of thinner logs. Add a kindling stack built in the same way, then top with firelighters and light with a match. Trust me, this works brilliantly with high quality firewood.
The bottom of your fire pit needs an inflammable surface for safety. Add gravel on top of the compacted dirt to create a base for your fire pit. Pour a generous amount of crushed gravel paver base into the hole so your finished base will be approximately 5 inches thick.
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